Pepper spray used to take down knife-wielding 9-year-old

Wednesday

Oct 16, 2013 at 11:38 AM

A boy with a large kitchen knife in each hand tried to stab his mother before lunging at Kern County Sheriff deputies and yelling, “Time to die!” Deputies doused the boy with pepper spray to finally bring the 9-year-old into custody.

By Mike BodineSTAFF WRITERmbodine@ridgecrestca.com

ROSAMOND - A boy with a large kitchen knife in each hand tried to stab his mother before lunging at Kern County Sheriff deputies and yelling, “Time to die!” Deputies doused the boy with pepper spray to finally bring the 9-year-old into custody. According to the Kern County Sheriff's Office, the incident occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday. Two deputies from the Rosamond substation responded to a call of a “911” hangup in the 3300 block of Rosegold Avenue, in Rosamond. Once on scene, deputies made contact with the father of the nine year old who said his son “was having a mental episode and was armed with kitchen knives.” The man brought the deputies into the home where “they were confronted in the living room of the home by the 9-year-old juvenile who was armed with two large kitchen knives,” as stated in a Kern County Sheriff's Office press release. “The juvenile was waving the knives and threatening to stab his mother, who was also in the living room. The juvenile lunged with the knives in a threatening manner toward his mother but then turned and ran at one of the deputies who was yelling for the juvenile to stop. “The deputy stepped back behind a couch sectional as the juvenile ran at him. The juvenile jumped up on top of the couch and stopped with the knives raised. The juvenile retreated back onto another section of the couch. The juvenile continued to make threats to stab the deputies and made a statement that it was 'time to die.'” “The deputies slowly advanced on the juvenile and sprayed a burst of pepper spray onto his face and eyes. The juvenile tried covering his face and head using his hands and the knives to block the pepper spray stream. Shortly after the pepper stream hit the juvenile’s face, he dropped the knives and went to the ground as the pepper spray took effect. The deputies were able to take the juvenile into custody without further incident.The juvenile was transported to a medical facility in Bakersfield where a 72-hour mental evaluation hold was placed on him, according to the news release.